Intravenous injection apparatus

ABSTRACT

AN INTRAVENOUS INJECTION ARRANGEMENT OR APPARATUS IN WHICH THE FLUID TO BE INJECTED IS CONTAINED UNDER PRESSURE WITHIN A BOTTLE. THE FLUID IS FORCED FROM THE BOTTLE INTO AN EVACUATED CHAMBER, BY WAY OF A NEEDLE VALVE. THE HYPODERMIC NEEDLE FOR INJECTING PURPOSES COMMUNICATE WITH THE EVACUATED CHAMBER THROUGH A FLEXIBLE TUBE. THE CHAMBER IS EVACUATED IN A MANNER WHICH INSURES THAT NO AIR REMAINS WITHIN THE FLUID BEING INJECTED.

Sept. 20, 1971 H. PRICE ETAL 3,605,740

INTRAVENOUS INJECTION APPARATUS Filed Aug. 30, 1968 /fl 22 A! f 20 3,130

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INVENTORS Helm/Po P/P/ae' BY 00045; h nu/cxr United States Patent 01flee 3,605,740 INTRAVENOUS INJECTION APPARATUS Howard Price, Whitestone,N.Y., and Dudley Wallick,

Clifton, N.J., assignors to International Patents & DevelopmentCorporation Filed Aug. 30, 1968, Ser. No. 756,521 Int. Cl. A61m /00;A61j N00 US. Cl. 128214 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION Heretofore, intravenous injection has been accomplishedby elevating the bottle containing the fluid to be injected, so that thefluid may flow from the bottle under the action of gravity. Furthermore,the flow rate from the bottle had not been reliably controllable, andcomplete assurance could not be had that air would not remain within thepassages of the apparatus through which the intravenous fluid would flowon its way to the hypodermic needle. Accordingly, it is the object ofthe present invention to provide an intravenous injection arrangement inwhich the liquid or fluid to be injected is maintained within a bottleunder pressure, so that the bottle may be held in any position and atany level without regard to gravity. It is also an object of the presentinvention to provide a simplified valve arrangement which controls theflow rate of the fluid from the bottle. At the same time, it is theobject of the present invention that the apparatus which attaches to thebottle be designed to assure that no air may be introduced into thefluid being injected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An intravenous injection arrangement orapparatus in which the fluid to be injected is contained under pressurewithin a bottle. The seal of the bottle is pierced through a needlevalve which also controls the flow rate of fluid from the bottle. Fluidflows from the bottle to the hypodermic needle, by way of an evacuatedchamber communicating with the needle valve. The chamber is evacuatedthrough the operation of a plunger within a tightly-fitting cylindricalchamber. The evacuation of the air within the chamber is performed in amanner which assures that no air becomes introduced in the fluid fromthe bottle on its way to the hypodermic needle. The needle valvecooperates with the evacuated chamber to assure an air-free controlledflow rate of fluid into the hypodermic needle. The fluid within thebottle is maintained under pressure through a disc and springcombination, which allows the bottle to be held in any desired orarbitrary position during the injection operation.

Various specific purposes, features and advantages will clearly appearfrom the detailed description given below taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing which forms part of this specification andillustrates merely by way of example a certain embodiment of theapparatus according to the invention.

3,605,740 Patented Sept. 20, 1971 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE .DRAWING Inthe following description and in the claims, parts will be identified byspecific names for convenience, but such names are intended to be asgeneric in their application to similar parts as the art will permit.Like reference characters denote like parts in the several figures ofthe drawing, in which FIG. 1 is a sectional front view of theintravenous injection arrangement, and shows the assembly of the bottle,valve, and injection needle in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the valve shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of the evacuating plunger shown inFIG. 1, and shows the valve construction within the plunger head;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view through the axis of the fluid containingbottle shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional top view of the fluid containing bottle of FIG. 4in combination with a member for securing the bottle in place.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 'Referring to the drawing, abottle 10 containing the fluid 12 to be injected intravenously is madeof plastics or similar disposable material. The bottle 10 made ofplastics or any other suitable material is provided with a neck 14having, at its end, a thread 16. When the bottle 10 with the fluid 12 isbeing stored, the bottle is sealed at the end of its neck through a sealor plug 18. The fluid 12 within the bottle 10 is maintained underpressure which tends to force the fluid out of the bottle.

When the fluid 12 is to be injected intravenously, the bottle 10 isthreadably inserted into a housing 20 of an injection apparatus 22. Thehousing 20 which may be made of plastics or any other suitable materialcontains, at one end, an opening 24 which is internally threaded toreceive and accommodate the thread 16 of the bottle 10. At the other endof the housing 20, is a second opening 26 which also has an internalthread for receiving a needle valve 28. The latter possesses a threadedportion 30 which is inserted into the threaded opening 26. The knob 32may be of circular cross section and knurled on its cylindrical exteriorsurface to facilitate manual gripping of the knob and turning of theneedle valve.

The needle valve 28 has a smooth cylindrical portion 34 adjoining thethreaded portion 30. The smooth cylindrical portion 34 terminates in aconical-shaped portion 36 which serves as the needle of the valve. Theconical shaped portion 36 or needle end of the valve, is used to piercethe seal 18 of the bottle 10 and to regulate the flow of fluid from thebottle.

Thus, the bottle 10 may first be threaded, at its neck, into the housing20 without piercing the seal 18. When the neck 14 is within the housingby being Within the opening 24 to the fullest extent, the knob 32 may beturned to bring the apex or piercing point of the portion 36 intocontact with the seal 18. Through further turning of the knob 32 theconical-shaped portion 36 proceeds to pierce the seal and enter theinterior of the bottle 10. The contents 12 or interior of the bottle 10remain sealed even though the conical-shaped portion 36 has pierced theseal 18, since the cross section of the conical portion 36 fills thepierced opening within the seal 18. Accordingly, the interior orcontents 12 of the bottle 10* remains sealed as. long as the knob 32 isturned in one direction, corresponding to the piercing of the seal 18.The contents or fluid 12 can flow out of the bottle only after the knob32 is turned in the opposite direction which retracts the conicalsection 36 and moves the latter away from the pierced opening.

In another procedure for piercing the seal 18, the knob 32 has beenturned to its desired final position, before threading the neck 14 intothe opening 24 of the housing 20. In this procedure, therefore, theconical section 36 projects into the threaded opening 24 before thebottle 10 is attached to the housing 20. When the neck 14 of the bottle10 is then threaded into the opening 24, the needle end or cone-shapedportion 36 progressively pierces the seal 18 as the bottle 10 is turnedand threaded into the opening 24. When the neck 14 has been insertedinto the opening 24, to its fullest extent permitted by the length ofopening 24, the sealed portion 18 of the bottle 10 will have a piercedopening of the desired diameter. The housing 20 is shaped internally toaccommodate the smooth section 34 and the conical-shaped portion 36. Inthe position shown in FIG. 1, the needle valve 28 has been. turnedthrough the knob 32 to its end position in which the conical-shapedportion 36 projects by the maximum amount into the neck of the bottle10. The interior Walls of the housing 20 in contact with theconical-shaped portion 36 when the latter is in this end position,serves as a stop or signal to the user of the apparatus that the knob 32has been turned to its limiting or end position.

A transparent tube 38 made of, for example, plastics is secured to thehousing 20. The interior 40 of the tube 38 communicates with the passagewithin the interior of the housing 20 in which the portion 34 of theneedle valve resides. A plunger 42 is fitted into the interior of thetube 38 so that it may slide longitudinally along the axis of the tube.To facilitate such sliding action of the plunger 42, the interior wallsof the tube 38 have a smooth finish. A plunger rod 44 is attached to theplunger 42- and projects out of the tube 38 through an opening 48 at theend of the tube. This end of the tube containing the opening 48 iscapped so that the opening 48 will guide the movement of the plunger rod44 as the latter moves longitudinally along the axis of the tube. Aplunger-pulling ring or handle 46 is attached to the end of the plungerrod 44. This ring or handle 46 permits the operator to move the plungerreadily within the interior of the tube 38. The element or handle 46 maybe ring shaped so that it may be readily gripped between two fingers forpulling at the plunger rod 44.

As shown in FIG. 2, the surface of the plunger 42 facing the cylindricalportion 34 of the needle valve, is shaped so as to sealingly contact theportion 34 when the plunger is at its extreme position in which it bearsagainst the portion 34. Accordingly, this contact surface 42a of theplunger 42 is cylindrically shaped to mate with the surface of thecylindrical portion 34.

The capped end of the tube 38 which contains the opening 48, has,furthermore, an opening 50. The latter communicates with the interior 54of an elbow 52 attached to the tube 38. The elbow 52 is secured at itsterminating end, to a flexible tube coupling 56 to which is attached aflexible tube 58. At the other end of the flexible tube 58, is aretaining member 60 which retains or holds a hypodermis needle 62. Theelements 38, 52, '56, 58, 60 and 62 are all secured to each other sothat their internal passages communicate with each other, but are sealedagainst the exterior environment.

The plunger 42 includes an opening 64 extending through the plunger sothat the axis of the opening 64 is parallel to the plunger rod 44. Theopening 64 cooperates with a ball 66 to provide a check valve within theplunger 42. A plug 68 is pressed into one end of the opening 64 so as toretain the ball 64 therein. The opening 64 is V-shaped by which the ball'66 is prevented from leaving the opening 64 at the other end, oppositeto that at which the plug 68 is located. The plug 68 includes a passage70 in communication with the V-shaped opening 64.

To maintain the fluid 12 within the bottle 10 under pressure, aspring-loaded disc member 72 is provided within the bottle as shown inFIG. 4. A spring 74 seated, at one end, on a pad 78 at the bottom of thebottle, maintains a force against the disc member 72 tending to move thelatter toward the neck or opening of the bottle. The fluid 12 within thebottle is confined to the portion of the bottle interior, bordered bythe disc 72 and the upper end of the bottle containing the neck. Toprevent fluid from seeping into the portion of the bottle housing thespring 74, an O ring 76 is provided. To assemble the disc 72 and spring74 within the bottle 10, the bottom 10a of the bottle may be designed inthe form of a separate circular disc which may be sealed to the bottlewalls after the disc and spring have been introduced into the interiorof the bottle. Thus, if the material used for the bottle is plastics,the bottle 10a may be simply heat sealed to the bottle walls, in theconventional manner and with conventional apparatus used for joiningplastic material through the application of heat. The pad 78 may beintegrally constructed with the bottom 10a.

When fluid is introduced into the bottle 10, it is introduced underpressure which forces the disc 72 towards the bottom end of the bottle10. As a result, the fluid 12 will be maintained under pressure withinthe bottle after the opening of the bottle through its neck, has beensealed. The bottle 10 may be provided with a bottle attachment device 80shown in FIG. 5. This attachment may be curved or shaped to conform tothe arm of the patient for the purpose of holding the bottle in placeWhile the intravenous injection is taking place. The attachment 80 maybe provided with a pressure-sensitive adhesive 82 for securing theattachment 80 and hence the bottle 10 to the body of the patient. Thus,the pressure-sensitive adhesive 82 may be coated on the surface of theattachment 80 so as to readily adhere to the skin of the arm, forexample, of the patient and thereby maintain the bottle 10 in a desiredposition.

In operation, the sealed bottle 10 is threadably inserted into thehousing 20 so that the threaded portion 16 is properly seated within theopening 24. During this interval the plunger 42 and the needle valve 28are in their end positions as shown in FIG. 1. During the operation inwhich the bottle 10 is threaded into the opening 24, the seal 18 ispierced by the cone-shaped portion 36 of the needle valve. The plungerring 46 is then gripped and pulled so that the plunger 42 is moved tothe opposite end of the tube 38. During this operation of moving theplunger 42, the air within the chamber 40 is forced out through theopening 50' and 54, and through the flexible tube 58 as well as thehypodermic needle 62. When the plunger 42 is thus moved, the ball 66within the opening 64 of the check valve, is seated against the V-shapedwalls of the opening 64 and prevents the air from passing into thechamber 40 after the plunger 42 has been moved to the capped end of thetube 38. As a result, the interior of the chamber 40 is evacuated whenthe plunger ring 46 has been pulled outward. The needle valve knob 32 isthen turned so as to retract, from the pierced opening in the seal 18,the cone shaped portion 36. This leaves an annular opening between theseal 18 and the exterior surface of the portion 36, through which thepressurized fluid 12 may pass into the chamber 40. After a sufficientamount of the fluid 12 has been transferred into the chamber 40,sufficient pressure is available to force the ball 66 toward the plug68. The fluid within the chamber 40, can, thereupon, flow through theopening 64 and the duct or passage 70. Since the latter passage isaligned with the opening 50 and 54, fluid may flow freely through theflexible tube and hence, the hypodermic needle from within the chamber40. After a suflicient amount of such fluid has appeared at the end ofthe hypodermic needle 62, assurance can be had that all of the airwithin the apparatus has been removed, and only fluid will be injectedintravenously.

The fluid flow may be regulated through adjustment of the needle valveby turning knob 32 and, hence, increasing or decreasing the size of theannular opening between the seal 18 and the cone shaped portion 36 ofthe valve. At the same time, the amount of fluid within the chamber 40may be readily observed through the provision that the chamber or tube38 is made of transparent plastic material. Along the length of the tube38 markings may be provided which indicate the amount of fluid observedwithin the chamber. Thus, the length of the tube may contain markingsexpressed in cubic centimeters to indicate to the operator the volume offluid within the chamber 40.

While the invention has been described and illustrated with respect tocertain preferred example which gives satisfactory results, it will beunderstood by those skilled in the art after understanding the principleof the invention, that changes and modifications may be made Withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention and it is intended,therefore, in the appended claims to cover all such changes andmodifications.

What is claimed is:

1. An intravenous injection arrangement comprising, in combination,fluid containing means for containing the fluid to be injectedintravenously under pressure; valve means for opening said fluidcontaining means and communicating with said fluid containing means forregulating the flow of fluid from said containing means; injectionneedle means communictaing with said valve means for injectingintravenously said fluid within said fluid containing means, the flowrate of said injected fluid being regulated by said valve means; andactuating means connected to said valve means in the flow path from saidcontainer means to said needle means for initiating the flow of fluidfrom said containing means to said injection needle means through saidvalve means, said actuating means comprising: a tubular housing securedto said valve means and communicating with said flow path through saidvalve means; and plunger means movable within said tubular means andevacuating the air within said tubular means when said plunger means ismoved from one end of said tubular means to the other end thereof, theevacuation of said air from said tubular means permitting fluid flowfrom said container means and through said valve means.

2. The intravenous injection arrangement as defined in claim 1 whereinsaid valve means is a needle valve having a needle-shaped member forpiercing said fluid containing means, said fluid flowing from saidcontaining means into said valve means after piercing by saidneedle-shaped member.

3. The intravenous injection arrangement as defined in claim 1 includingthreaded means in said valve means for threadably receiving said fluidcontaining means.

4. The intravenous injection arrangement as defined in claim 3 whereinsaid valve means comprises a housing member threadably supporting saidfluid containing means; a needle-shaped adjustable member adjustablewithin said housing for piercing said fluid containing means andcontrolling the flow rate from said containing means; and supportingmeans for supporting said actuating means.

5. The intravenous injection arrangement as defined in claim 1 whereinsaid fluid containing means comprises a disposable bottle threaded atits neck for threadably joining to said valve means; a movable platemember within said bottle and confining said fluid between said platemember and the neck of said bottle; and spring means mounted betweensaid plate member and bottom of said bottle for maintaining pressureagainst said plate member and thereby maintaining said fluid underpressure within said bottle.

"6. The intravenous injection arrangement as defined in claim 5including bottle supporting means attachable to the patient into whomsaid fluid is to be injected intravenously, said bottle supporting meansbeing secured to said bottle.

7. The intravenous injection arrangement as defined in claim 1 whereinsaid tubular housing is of transparent material containing markingsalong said tubular housing for indicating the fluid volume within saidtubular housmg.

8. The intravenous injection arrangement as defined in claim 1 includingflexible tubing means connected between said actuating means and saidneedle means for permitting flexible movement of said needle means inrelation to said actuating means and said valve means.

9. An intravenous injection arrangement comprising, in combination,fluid containing means for containing the fluid to be injectedintravenously under pressure; valve means communicating with said fluidcontaining means for regulating the flow of fluid from said containingmeans; injection needle means communicating with said valve means forinjecting intravenously said fluid within said fluid containing means;actuating means connected to said valve means for initiating the flow offluid from said containing means to said injection needle means throughsaid valve means, said valve means controlling the rate of flow of fluidto said injection needle means, said actuating means comprising: atubular housing secured to said valve means and communicating with theflow path through said valve means; and plunger means movable withinsaid tubular means and evacuating the air within said tubular means whensaid plunger means is moved from one end of said tubular means to theother end thereof, the evacuation of said air from said tubular meansforcing fluid flow from said containing means and through said valvemeans, said plunger means comprising: a plunger head movable along theinterior wall of said tubular housing; and check valve means in saidplunger head for permitting air flow through said plunger head whenmoving in one direction within said tubular housing and preventing airflow through said plunger head when moving in the opposite direction.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,930,929 10/1933 Eisenberg128-218 2,971,509 2/1961 Cohen 128-216 3,055,362 9/1962 Uytenbogaart128218 3,469,578 9/1969 Bierman 128-214 WARNER H. CAMP, Primary ExaminerU.S. Cl. X.R. 128272

